KPD (DSM 301.98.6), first described by Matheson (1959) and sometimes called Pathologischezurueckliegenheit, is a psychiatric syndrome characterized by an apparent overwhelming concern, or even obsession, with the meaning of the patient's inner emotions and world view but at the same time subsuming the emotions of others into the self. Like Narcissism (DSM 301.81), these patients can be easily injured psychologically, but unlike Narcissism, they tend not to be arrogant or haughty. KPD also differs from Narcissism in that the patient is overwhelmingly concerned with the emotional state of his/her acquaintances (sufferers of KPD seldom have what could normally be characterized as friends), but usually only as it relates to the patient's own psychological state. They appear not to distinguish between their own emotions and the emotions of others.
